Lunar Light
by Snowsky
Summary: In a tangled world of darkness and fire, a father fights to save his son from the cruel grip of Sunfire Laboratories — and confront an enemy he had wished with all his heart he would never have to face again. AU. [first chapter updated, 4/22/13]
1. Chapter 1: Lost

_A/N: I've wanted to write a Nando-centric story for a while. Well, here it is._

_The way I planned it, it's kind of a not-very-original Finding Nemo/Zoroark: Master of Illusions mishmash with some inspiration from the Portal fanfic "Maternal Instinct". But it's my first, so enjoy...please? I'll even throw in a cookie if you review. It's got chocolate chips and sprinkles...and vanilla frosting. _

_Also, sorry for the lack of actual Pokémon. But that cookie is still up for grabs._

**Chapter 1**

It was a common superstition among mages that the strangest things happened when the moon was full. Indeed, this night the moon hung clear and bright in the sky for all the world to see, its radiance bathing the little town and the forest in silvery light. One ray of moonlight reached down to illuminate a lone house standing by itself at the edge of the forest, a house belonging to a sorcerer called Nando Moonbow.

Tales abounded throughout the village of this strange man with the ghostly face and pale eyes framed by long dark hair, as black as the darkest night. Some claimed that he could punish those who angered him with curses unspeakable by a human tongue. Others claimed that he had a way of crossing the intangible border separating the living from the dead. Still more were convinced that he was a ghost himself, trapped in human form and doomed to walk the earth for all eternity.

From the smallest child to the wisest elder, everyone was warned never to go near him.

Alas, things have a way of changing when we least expect them to.

Flames tainted the endless sky a thousand shades of red and orange and yellow as the smoldering wreckage burned itself out in one final blaze, crumbling to ash.

_Just a little farther, _the young woman in the black cloak reminded herself as she limped down the path, away from the ruins, away fromthem, carrying the basket in her arms. The wound in her leg ached again. _It's not going to be much longer._

The familiar glow of her magic enveloped her, and she vanished, reappearing in a flash of light.

In front of a lone house near the edge of a forest.

She approached the doorstep of the house, clutching the basket to her chest. Looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her, she set the basket on the doorstep, then fled into the night, never looking back.

The door swung open. Nando knelt down to examine the contents of the basket, raising his lantern to get a better look. Lifting a corner of the tiny fleece blanket, he gasped.

A little boy with soft green hair lay fast asleep in the folds of the blanket. Inconspicuously wedged into the cloth folds was a hastily written note.

_My old friend _**—**

_When you read this, they will probably have already caught me. I can't keep running from them forever. You're my only hope._

_Even if they kill me, I won't let them take my son. I know how much I am asking of you, but there is no other choice _**— **_I am sorry. My last request to you is to care for Conway as if he was your own. I know he will be safe with you. _

All at once, the realization fell like the moon itself onto Nando's shoulders. She was in danger! Taking the basket into his arms, he fled into the dense forest, following the sounds of battle that echoed through the trees. Red light flashed in the shadows, unmistakable signs of his enemies' mark: the fiery blaze that consumed everything in its path.

The light was growing fainter, but not for an instant did Nando halt, until all at once, the sounds stopped and the fiery red light began to fade. Darkness was thrown over the forest once more, but the dying fire still lit the way in the clearing up ahead.

The clearing where she lay.

Desperation and denial flooded through Nando's veins as if he could block out the crushing realization, tears pricking at his eyes. _No. It can't be...it's not true. It's not! No, please, no! _Kneeling over her body, he felt his healing spell flood to his hands in a futile attempt to revive her, but it was too late. She was gone. Nando's shoulders crumpled as his body shook with heaving sobs at the loss of his dearest friend, whispering her name over and over as if it would bring her back. _Why couldn't I save you?_

The spell was broken when a tiny cry sounded from the basket, instantly snapping Nando out of his mourning trance. Awakened, Conway's wide eyes were quivering with unshed tears of his own, as if he knew what had happened to his mother. Nando held the boy to his chest as close as he could, stroking Conway's soft green hair until he fell asleep. As Nando gazed down at the sleeping boy and a gentle love crept into his heart, he felt a new instinct spark inside him, not to grieve...but to protect.

"You are my son now. And I swear to the gods above that I will keep you safe until my last breath."


	2. Chapter 2: Imagined

**Chapter 2**

_A/N: Wow! I didn't expect this story to get even one review, let alone three - major thanks to Madame Kasumi, InvasionoftheCat, and Guest. You all get the internet cookies I promised you, thanks so much! *gives*_

_This chapter takes place a few years later, so Conway is three or four years old in this one. Enjoy. :)_

Dark slate clouds smothered the sky in grey, filling the night air with icy rain. Through the curtain of water, in the window of a single house flickered a lone light.

"...and his image was painted in the stars for everyone to remember how he had saved them all." The book fell closed with a thump, the jewels on the gilded cover shining in the lantern's glow.

The little green-haired boy let out a tiny yawn and snuggled closer to his father on the bed. Nando's eyes softened as he wrapped an arm around him.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Conway?"

"The people in the star stories..." The boy stifled another yawn. "Are they real?"

"They were." Pause. "A long time ago."

"The pretty magical lady?"

_As the night fell, the moon caught the highlights in her sweeping curtain of green hair that reached down to her shoulders, the color of shadows cast among the trees in the dusky twilight. _"The most beautiful in the whole world."

"The scary man with the blue hair?"

_A cold spark shone in emotionless eyes behind metal glasses as the blood dripped off his pristine white coat. Mouth twisted into a psychotic smirk, he raised the scalpel. _"As heartless as anyone could ever be."

"Like other people?"

Nando chuckled. "No, Conway. Not all of the people in the world are bad. They're just scared of anything that's different."

"Like you."

"Yes, like me." It was true, Nando was different. Try as he might, he just couldn't bring himself to be like others. To make friends, to enjoy life like a normal person should.

That was the least of it. He wasn't normal, and he knew it. However much he despised the people in this stupid little village — how they whispered behind his back and made fun of him when they thought he couldn't hear them — living in this unknown place was the only way to stay out of the sight of a much more dangerous enemy. An enemy that had pursued him for years.

_They weren't far behind. Nando's lungs burned with every step, but he ran as fast as his seven-year-old legs could carry him. Not daring to look back, the boy fled along the moonlit path, but he only made it five more steps before a hand grabbed him by the wrist, sweeping him into familiar arms. With the little strength he had left, Nando kicked and fought against the man's grasp, but he was thrown to the ground and his arms were pinned behind his back. _

"_Don't fight, you little freak," the voice hissed. "Master won't be happy."_

A tug at his sleeve jolted him from the unpleasant memory, and he returned to the present with Conway sitting beside him. "Dad? Are you there?"

"Oh? Oh, yes," Nando replied. "I am sorry."

"Dad..." A pause. "What's the outside world like?"

More silence. "For me, it's the most dangerous place to exist. For you, it may not be. The world isn't kind to people like me, but to someone like you, it can be full of wonderful things."

"I want to see everything," the boy declared. "I want to explore the whole world some day."

Nando affectionately ruffled his son's hair. "Someday, you will. But right now, it's time for my little explorer to go to bed."

"I'm not tired," Conway protested as Nando pulled the blanket up around his shoulders.

"I know you aren't. Think of it this way: when you sleep, you can always explore the world in your dreams. In your dreams, you can be anything you want."

"Anything?"

"Anything." Nando removed Conway's glasses and set them on the nightstand table, bending down to give his son a light kiss on the forehead. "Good night, my little one_. _I love you."

As his own eyes closed and he slumped down in the chair next to the bed, the last thing he saw was his son curled up in the soft blankets, hugging his pillow.

They were safe for another day.


	3. Chapter 3: Destiny

**Chapter 3: Destined?**

_A/N: Sorry about the late update, but thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter and to VampireMint for the kind feedback! As always, enjoy!_

Focusing all the willpower in his head to his eyes, Nando stared at the heavy book so hard he thought it would burst into flames. Alight with a pale violet glow, it lifted into the air at eye level, hung there, then fell to the tabletop with a heavy thunk. Muttering in annoyance, he repositioned the book in front of him. "I am out of practice." Clicking his fingers, the mess of objects on the table realigned itself into neat piles, items sliding around each other this way and that in their rush to get back into place. The candle flickered, the shadows shifting restlessly behind it, as if spirits waited within. Almost subconsciously, Nando's fingers wandered to the small talisman threaded on the length of silver chain encircling the base of his throat. As he touched it, it glowed softly, purple sparks crackling around the crystalline base.

From behind him, the near-silent pad of small sock-clad feet broke the silence. A glowing lantern floated down the stairs, its seven-year-old bearer not far behind. "Dad? What are you doing?"

Startled by the voice, Nando stiffened, then relaxed as he turned to face his son. "You should be asleep right now, Conway."

"I was, but then I heard this thumping noise and then I came downstairs to see what made it." The boy's eyes roved over the strange pile of objects with interest - a handful of marbles, a plush doll, the heavy leather book, a gilt-edged tarot card, three silver coins. "What are those for - " Conway leaped back in shock when he caught sight of the wall. "Father! The shadows are moving!"

Nando laughed gently. "Yes, they do that. I make them."

"You...you can _make _them move?" The little boy's eyes grew wide behind his thick framed glasses. "How?"

Instantly, the shadows on the wall grew quiet and still. Nando's eyes began to glow softly with a dark purple aura, the same color as the gemstone in the necklace. "Do you recall the stories of the sky mages I have told you?"

Hesitantly, Conway nodded. Every night, his father would recount to him, out of the leather book, tales of a mysterious race of people with magical powers, stories of their deeds of how they used their powers for both good and evil. "Yes."

Nando flicked his fingers. The fading candle suddenly blazed into flame, casting a circle of light on the wall as the shadows flickered around it. Silhouettes morphed in the circle like puppets on strings, controlled by a steady hand.

_Long ago in ancient days, a time when the shadows and the light were one, our ancestors walked this earth._

_They were not like ordinary mortals, for they possessed a special gift - the gift of magic. They were ruled over by three celestial gods: the Sun Lord, the Lady Moon and the Morning Star. _

_They loved their people and their world, serving as its guardians and protecting it from harm at all costs. In return, the mages' loyalty to their protectors was so fierce that it was said that every mage was destined to defend the celestial kingdom from the very day they were born._

_It was foretold that as long as the three gods remained at peace with each other, their kingdom would remain a paradise of harmony for all their subjects forevermore. And so the celestial kingdom was the happiest place on earth._

_But as time went on, the Sun Lord became discontent with his share of the celestial kingdom. He desired it all._

_The Lady Moon, knowing the disastrous consequences that would follow if this were to come true, refused his wish, saying that each of their domains belonged to them alone. Outraged, the Sun Lord declared that if the Celestial Kingdom could not be his, he would burn it to the ground until there was nothing left of it. Seeking to protect her people, the Lady Moon bestowed a gift upon them: the blessing of shadow magic. Thus the lunar mages were born._

_In response, the Sun Lord gave to his people a blessing of his own: light magic, bringing forth his own soldiers, the solar mages. Loyalties now decided, from the threat erupted the Celestial War._

_The kingdom was torn apart. Entire villages were destroyed, and countless lives were lost in the fight, mage and mortal alike. Destruction raged across the world, consuming everything in its path. Once a shining beacon of peace and harmony, the kingdom was now a ravaged, death-filled wasteland._

_Alone of the three gods, Morning Star took no part in the battles, saddened by the ruin of their creation. He pleaded with the Lady Moon and the Sun Lord to stop their senseless fighting or the kingdom would cease to exist, but his pleas fell on deaf ears._

_Morning Star was now desperate. The final battle of the war that would determine which of the two factions survived was about to come to a standstill. Powerless to quell the fighting, he did the only thing he could do. As the the Lady Moon and Sun Lord cast their final spells, he stood between them, stopping them from killing each other with his own spell, and the force of their combined spells struck him directly in the heart. As he lay dying, he called to his side the few mages that had sworn loyalty to him, and with his last breath, he bestowed upon them his final blessing: star magic, making them the third race of the ancient mages - the twilight mages. Fading into darkness, he wished upon them a last request: to go forth and use their powers to restore peace to the world. _

_The Sun Lord and the Lady Moon were filled with sorrow at having slain their friend and had realized the damage they had done, but it could not be reversed. The kingdom was rebuilt, but the war had left a deeper scar in it, one that would never heal - the solar and lunar mages would come to hate each other forever. _

As the last words of the tale dissipated into silence, the shadowy aura faded from Nando's eyes. Reflected in Conway's glasses was the weak glow of the dying candle, his eyes as wide as the full moon.

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes. Conway felt a question burning at the back of his mind, but didn't let it out until Nando's eyes flickered and he felt the strange sensation of his father's mind intertwining with his, probing around his thoughts. "Something troubles you, my son?"

"Yes..." Conway clasped his hands in his lap the way he did when he was nervous or upset, looking up at Nando with curious eyes. "Is magic bad?"

Nando shook his head. "Yes. And no." A violet spark of energy crackled in the palm of his hand. "Power alone is not simply good or bad by itself, Conway." The spark began to glow, shifting from black to white and back again. "It is how you use it that determines its worth."

"What kind of power do you have?"

For a few moments, Nando struggled with an answer, but finally came up with one. "I have committed to both good and evil deeds. Everyone has...or will."

Conway's little shoulders had relaxed when he saw that his first question did not make his father angry. "What kind of power do I have?"

A gentle smile touched upon Nando's face. "You are still young, little one. No one knows what your power may be yet, or what you may use it for. But I believe that when you fulfill your destiny..." - the magician clasped his son's hands in his own ones - "you will make me prouder than I have ever been."

"You really think so?" Conway's eyes were shining like stars, filled to the brim with happiness.

Nando's voice was even and clear. "I _know _so."

"When I grow up, I want to be like you, Dad." Conway spread his arms out wide. "You're never afraid of anything. It's like you have wings."

Nando laughed gently. "Thank you, Conway. It is true that I fear little, but the truth is that there are still things that scare me every now and then."

"Like...?" Conway leaned forward, anticipating the answer anxiously.

Nando's right hand found the fabric of his left sleeve. In one swift movement, he pulled it up, revealing a mark on his shoulder of a black sun with eight spikes. "Do you remember what this sign represents?"

"Sunfire Laboratories," Conway recited instantly. He knew the name by heart; they were always the villains in his father's stories, carrying out monstrous deeds of all manner from the shadows, but working toward one ultimate motive: to kill the heroes.

"When I was young, I was taught to hate them with all of my heart, more than anything else in the world. And then, they bade me to...to join them." Nando shuddered, the terrible memories flashing before his eyes. "When I refused, they did terrible things to me...things that destroyed my mind, until there was nothing left of me. I had no choice but to bow to their whims, perform despicable evils with my own hands...until your mother fought me, and she reminded me of who I was."

Listening to the tale, Conway's eyes grew wide once more, this time not out of curiosity but from fear. "Are they still out there?"

A shadow flitted across Nando's eyes. "I believe they are. Rest assured, we are safe. They know nothing of our whereabouts, or even that you still live. But if they ever catch you..." - his hand glowed softly as he clenched it into a gentle fist - "...run. Run, farther and faster than you ever have in your entire life."

At that moment, there was a knock at the door.


End file.
